A BLOG BY HARRY TREND FROM THE DIFF

Hastings Runners 5 Mile Review – A race on my doorstep?

I’ll be totally honest, this race took me by surprise a bit. I wasn’t really looking forward to it but it turned out to be good fun.

I didn’t realise how big it would be as well, with over 500 entering – most from clubs. Another marker for a big event is when they get out that big inflatable starting arch and a timer!

In all the races I do in my life I’ll probably never have one where the start line is closer to my house. It began at Hastings Town hall, literally a two minute walk! It was weird seeing everyone warming up in the shopping centre, priory meadow, a bit surreal actually.

Anyway, enough of the build up. Once we had actually started the route took as through the town centre then up to the seafront. From there on it was the opposite parkrun route with a bit added on at the end.

I didn’t think I’d be able to run as last weekend my calves were completely shot to bits. I did a bit of the track session on Thursday but couldn’t complete it.

On Saturday I went for a short run, probably about 4K. I thought if I couldn’t complete that then I wouldn’t be able to do the 5 mile the next day. The funny thing is that I actually found that harder than the actual race, probably because of the adrenaline you get.

I felt like I was getting overtaken quite a lot though. You turned round near bridge cafe then going back through the underpass I felt my pace was dipping a bit. If I had a watch maybe I would’ve fallen off a bit. That’s another thing, bringing my watch was a pretty good idea as I was running it out of enjoying rather than trying to stick to time.

Still, I think I did alright, Dave beat on the last 400 metres which happened at the end of cross country! To get technical at my Cardiff 10K pace I’d be on for a sub 34.

I think what I’m gonna do now is train when I can during exams and lay off the racing for a bit, then hopefully by the summer I’ll be at that sub 20 5K level again.

I’m so glad I ended up doing the race though. It was one of those things which reminds you why you do something, next year it’s one of the many events I’ve planned to do.

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Published by Harry Trend

Harry Trend
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HazaTrand
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-v5QtSLbKO_kP775TGn-bA/about
For three years I had a YouTube channel. For one year I uploaded every week/two weeks and it was actually really fun. You never know I might actually start up again sometime. A massive supporter of Aston Villa, also I'm a general enthusiast of football whether it be playing or watching. Currently I'm a member of Hastings AC, regular "parkrunner" and studying Sports Journalism at Brighton University.
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